"Die Hard opened in limited release in 21 theaters on July 15, 1988, earning $601,851—an average of $28,659 per theater. The film received a general release in North America on July 22, 1988, earning approximately $7.1 million from 1,276 theaters—an average of $5,568 per theater—finishing as the weekend's number three film. By the time Die Hard ended its theatrical run, it had earned $83 million in North America and a further $57.7 million from markets elsewhere, totaling $140.7 million.[2]"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Ha
From the statistics above the film was clearly a success, interestingly one review of the film suggests how "Die Hard makes evident how, even though the Western as a genre was essentially dead by the 1980s, its essence was reinvented, deconstructed, and assimilated by other narrative." http://www.popmatters.com/feature/lean-mean-macho-machine/ This is perhaps because during the 1980's ideas of masculinity were changing, as the quote suggests die hard was a modernised western film; cowboys had entered the corporate world.
Jill Nelmes also discusses the idea of the film die hard as representing a new image of masculinity. Jill suggests how "die hard films suggests the particular representation of the male body in the 1980s reflects an anxiety about the roles men and women play in their everyday lives, both at home and at work and their concerns regarding shifts in society and gender roles". This does appear true in the character Holly MacLaine (Johns wife) who's is career driven and independent and can handle herself in a time a crisis. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Ng2tAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA286&lpg=PA286&dq=die+hard+1988+how+does+this+film+reflect+the+1980s&source=bl&ots=xBu8-okRT5&sig=gRHFVq9Usf85Jw2VNYi4no1npN4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ITn8UqiaDYLC7AbxpICwBg&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=die%20hard%201988%20how%20does%20this%20film%20reflect%20the%201980s&f=false
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